Blog: Juvenile Justice Reform

Lourdes Rosado is a Senior Attorney for Juvenile Law Center. Below, she introduces a useful guide to help your community screen teens for behavioral health and drug problems while protecting their rights in and out of juvenile court. Juvenile Law Center is the oldest multi-issue public interest law firm in the country dedicated to advancing the rights and well-being of children in jeopardy.—Ed. 
In the last decade, states and localities have worked hard to identify and treat the large percentage of youth in the juvenile justice system who have mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Chances are, you saw the news that two judges in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty last week to charges that for five years, they funnelled teens into detention in exchange for $2.6 million in kickbacks. This, after they'd worked to get the county-run detention center shut down in 2002. An estimated 5,000 juveniles who appeared in court were victimized this way; many for behavior that should never have landed them in court in the first place. A class-action lawsuit brought by the Juvenile Law Center is in the offing, and possibly -- hopefully -- charges against those running the private detention centers. 
This is appalling news. But it's also unusual. Juvenile court judges deserve the trust we place in them; they have a difficult job, trying to use the power of the court to help young people turn their lives around. 
What can more fortunate jurisdictions, then, learn from this story? I came away thinking about two things:

[John Kelly, pictured below, is Associate Editor at Youth Today. His complete article is available to subscribers on the paper's website.-- Ed.]
In Indiana, a couple of techies built a case management system, Quest, that connected all the integral parties associated in juvenile and family court cases. It enabled judges to handle motions and docket changes online, staff to draft orders in real time, and juvenile justice officials to measure data and progress seamlessly.
Staffs in counties that use Quest swear by it; observers usually leave in awe when they are first introduced to it. I first saw how the system works when Indianapolis Judge Marilyn Moores off-handedly showed it to an audience during a presentation about truancy courts. About half the crowd stayed after the session to ask questions, but not about the truancy court.

A couple days ago, we posted six tips on engaging family members in your efforts to reform the juvenile justice system and how it works with teens with drug and alcohol problems. Grace Bauer, who authored the tips, wrote to say that some excellent additional resources are coming:

Families can be one of the most powerful levers for changing how youth in the juvenile justice system access alcohol and drug treatment -- and improving its quality. But involving family members in reform work is difficult.
Fortunately, it's a skill that can be learned. To help you along, we're reprinting below a newsletter column written by Grace Bauer, Community Organizer for the Campaign for Youth Justice. --Ed.

 
Strategies for Engaging Families in
Advocacy and System Reform Efforts
by Grace Bauer

Recently, we asked you to take a survey, in order to address some basic questions:

• At what point in the legal process do you screen youth for alcohol and drug use/abuse? 
• What screening tool are you using? How well do you think it works?
• If you perform pre-adjudication screenings, how do you make sure the results do not interfere with the rights of the child in court?

Thanks to all who participated, so we can present our extremely unscientific results.

What's the JJDPA or Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA)?  
 
The JJDPA is perhaps best known for its “core requirements.” 
 
First passed in 1974, the JJDPA has for more than 30 years served as the principal vehicle for federal, state and local government to work in partnership on delinquency prevention and improvements in juvenile justice. The federal office devoted to juvenile justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), at U.S. Department of Justice, was established by the JJDPA.
 

Judge Bettina Borders has some questions for you.
Judge Borders is first justice of the Bristol County Juvenile Court at the Reclaiming Futures site in Bristol County, MA. Her site is in the process of developing a uniform drug screening tool.* As part of the process, the judge would like to hear from other jurisdictions about the following:

Join Together was chock full of interesting news this week. First, it reported that the state of Rhode Island has launched an addiction hotline, so that "children, adolescents, and adults" can get an alcohol and drug assessment within 24 hours. This will be piloted for only 3 months, but it's a huge step forward, and I can't wait to see what's learned. 

Also from Join Together: